Roger Federer saw off Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/1) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors. Federer had to save a set point in the ninth game of the first set as Nieminen fought hard to try and win the first set of his career against the world No. 2 after losing 18 dating back to 2002 in Moscow.
Nieminen’s brave game failed him as Federer finally took the opening set and then recovered from an early break in the second for 4-4. He then raced away through a second decider to convert on the first of five more match points, advancing in just over 90 minutes.
The Finn now stands 0-10 in the series where he had said just to win a set might have felt like a victory as the pair played a repeat of last year’s final.
Italian Simone Bolelli, beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2 while James Blake kept up his hopes of making the ATP season-ending championship when he defeated Spain’s Oscar Hernandez 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4.
Second seed David Nalbandian needed nearly two and a half hours to subdue qualifier Kristof Vliegen, posting a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) win.
■ ST PETERSBURG OPEN
AFP, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
Andy Murray, top seed and defending champion, breezed past Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and into the last eight on Thursday.
Murray won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour one minute to record his second win over Gulbis in as many meetings.
Also on Thursday Serb Janko Tipsarevic ousted Jeremy Chardy of France in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and Kazakhstani qualifier Andrey Golubev upset crowd favorite Marat Safin, winning 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first quarter-final.
Mischa Zverev of Germany upset another Russian Mikhail Youzhny, seeded fourth, 7-5, 6-4.
■ LINZ OPEN
AP, LINZ, AUSTRIA
Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Vera Zvonareva eased into the quarter-finals with straight-sets wins on Thursday.
Ivanovic downed Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-4, 6-2 while Zvonareva routed Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2, 6-0.
Zvonareva dropped serve in the opening set against Llagostera Vives and saved five more breakpoints, but was in control afterward.
Fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova defeated Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 7-6 (7) to set up a quarter-final match against Agnieszka Radwanska.
Petrova was broken twice while serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, and the Russian missed four match points in the tiebreaker before finally converting.
Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine was the only unseeded player to make the quarter-finals by beating fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
In other matches Marion Bartoli of France beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3 and Flavia Pennetta of Italy defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care